


Little Letters

by CelestialVoid



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Dorks in Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Hurt Derek Hale, Fluff, Hale Family Feels, Hurt Derek, Hurt Derek Hale, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Love Letters, M/M, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Pack Bonding, Pining, Post-Hale Fire (Teen Wolf), Romantic Fluff, Short One Shot, The Hale Pack - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24676651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialVoid/pseuds/CelestialVoid
Summary: Stiles likes to leave little love notes in Derek’s pockets. He never writes his name on them, but he doesn’t have to; Derek knows who writes them.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 48
Kudos: 818





	Little Letters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kirjastorotta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirjastorotta/gifts).



The first time it happened, Derek was a little confused.

He reached into the pocket of his leather jacket for his phone, but as he pulled it out, a folded piece of paper fell out of his pocket and onto the ground.

Derek bent over and picked it up.

He unfolded the note and read it.

_Every day that you’re here you make the world a better place._

He felt a warmth blossom in his chest, his cheeks flushed with a rosy pink blush. He bit into his lower lip, trying to hide the soft smile that crept onto his lips.

There wasn’t a name at the bottom, or anywhere on the note, but there didn’t need to be; he knew who had written the note. He knew the messy, chicken-scratch handwriting. He knew the scent that clung to the paper. But what struck him as odd was that he never questioned it.

He folded the note up again and carefully slid it back into his pocket.

\- - -

Derek hunched his shoulders as the icy breeze rolled by. He shoved his hands into his pockets. His heart skipped a beat as his fingers brushed against something cold and smooth.

He pulled it out of his pocket, letting out a sigh of relief as he looked down at the folded piece of paper. He carefully unfolded it, reading the chicken-scratch handwriting.

_Are you made of Copper and Tellurium?_

_Because you’re_

_Cu Te_

Derek couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle, bowing his head as he tried to hide the smile that played across his lips.

At the bottom of the paper—hastily written to fit in the space at the bottom of the note—was a second message:

_Seriously though, you look good today._

Derek smiled, carefully folding up the note and sliding it back into his pocket.

\- - -

Derek let out a deep sigh as he stepped into the loft, dragging his feet across the polished concrete floors. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it over the end of the bed, halting when he heard a quiet crinkle, the sound muffled by the fabric of his jacket.

He stepped back over to his bed, digging into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out the folded piece of scrap paper.

He carefully unfurled it, looking down at the scrawls of ink across the page.

_Smile for six seconds and then turn this note over._

Derek’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked down at the note in confusion.

He half-shrugged and followed the instructions, letting a smile turn up the corners of his mouth. He held the smile, counting away the seconds.

He turned the note over.

_Your smile is beautiful._

Derek let out a quiet laugh, his smile softening into something more genuine.

He let out a quiet chuckle as he walked back over to his desk and opened the drawer. He pulled out an old leather-bound copy of _Watership Down_ that was wrapped in black leather that had been embossed with gold lettering and a picture of a rabbit down the spine and another illustration of a rabbit embossed on the cover.

Derek opened the cover, stowing the note away inside with all the other letters that had been left for him.

Beneath all the notes, a message was written on the faded paper in his mother’s elegant handwriting.

_Happy birthday, my darling._

_Love always,_

_Mum._

_xx_

Derek looked down at the message for a little while. He let out a soft sigh before carefully rearranging the notes and scraps of paper that he had hidden inside of the book.

He looked down at the notes with a fond smile before carefully closing the cover and setting the old book back down in his desk drawer.

\- - -

Derek let out a weak groan as he rolled over, blinking his eyes open. The golden light of morning streamed through the wall of windows that lined the loft.

He pushed himself up, pulling back the blankets and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He rose to his feet, hastily making his bed before making his way towards the bathroom.

His feet slowed to a halt as he crossed the loft, something in his peripheral vision catching his attention.

He turned, looking at the note that was taped to the window.

“If this is a threat, it’s too damn early for this shit,” Derek muttered to himself as he dragged his feet across the floor and over to the window.

He snatched the letter from the window, blinking heavily to clear the sleep from his eyes. He looked down at the paper.

_When you smile, the sun hides in shame because it knows it cannot shine as bright as you._

He let out a quiet laugh, feeling his mood brighten as he stood in the warmth of the sunlight that streamed through the window.

His smile turned up the corners of his lips as he read the letter over again before lifting his gaze and watching as the sky lit up with brilliant colours as dawn broke over Beacon Hills.

He stayed like that for a while before a thought struck him.

The smile fell from his face as he looked from the note to the window.

“How did you…?” He let the question die off, shaking his head. “You know what, I don’t want to know.”

\- - -

“Where’s my phone?” Derek muttered to himself as he patted down the pockets of his jeans.

He heard something crackle as he patted his back pocket.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He reached into the pocket and pulled out the piece of folded paper.

“How?” Derek asked, knowing he wasn’t going to get an answer—regardless, he had to admit, he was impressed.

He unfolded the note and read the message,

_If life were a garden of flowers, I’d pick you_.

Derek snorted as he struggled to smother his laugh.

He chuckled as he looked down at the hastily drawn illustrations of blossoming daisies and delicate dandelions at the bottom of the note.

Derek couldn’t help himself. He lifted the note to his face and inhaled the scent that clung to the paper.

Every nerve in his body was ignited, a rush of warmth flowing through his veins before a wave of calm washed over him.

A faint smile turned up the corners of his lips.

\- - -

There are some days when everything gets to be too much for him to handle, when it feels like the weight of the world is on his shoulders and he doesn’t have the strength to carry it.

He paced back and forth across the loft, drawing in measured breaths as he tried to ignore the deafening voices in his head; thoughts and emotions crashing over him like waves breaking on a rocky shore.

His heart hammered against his ribs, his chest tightening as he fought to hold back his tears.

Something in his peripheral vision caught his attention, a small piece of white paper sitting on the small table by the door.

Derek’s brows knitted together as he frowned in confusion. He didn’t remember leaving anything there; the shopping list was pinned on the fridge and the reminder to call Cora was on his bedside table.

He crossed over to the small table and picked up the note, feeling a sense of calmness still his racing thoughts and turbulent emotions as he looked down at the familiar handwriting.

_In a hundred lifetimes, in a thousand worlds, in a million versions of reality—I’d find you and I’d choose you._

Derek held the note tight. His vision began to blur into streaks of colour and light as tears welled in his eyes. Tears trailed down his cheeks, glistening as they caught the light.

His legs weakened beneath him as he slumped down on the couch, his hands trembling as he held on to the note.

He knew he was important. He knew he was loved. But looking down at that note, for the first time in a long time, he felt it.

\- - -

The pack often spent time together at the loft. If they weren’t coming together for pack meetings or fighting off the latest supernatural threat, they were gathered in the lounge room, surrounded by text books and notebooks, studying or helping each other with their homework.

Erica and Lydia sat up on the sofa, sitting cross-legged and facing each other, their books spread across the cushions in front of them. Boyd sat on the floor beside Erica, leaning back against the couch. Isaac sat beside him, hunched over a text book and scowling in confusion. Jackson sat on one of the armchairs, his legs hanging over the side as he sat his notebook against his thighs and worked through his homework.

Scott and Allison sat on the far side of the coffee table, sitting atop throw cushions they’d scavenged from the couch and talking through their Chemistry homework.

Stiles sat at the other end of the coffee table, sitting in the space between Lydia’s end of the couch and the arm chair that Derek sat in – reading. He was juggling different highlighters—green, yellow and red—blocks of text in his books coloured as he worked through his method.

He switched between his text books and his notebooks, flipping through pages upon pages of scrawled notes, brightly coloured highlighting, and messy writing.

Derek glanced up from his book, looking down at the notebook Stiles held.

His mind darted back to the last note he’d been left.

Derek reached over to the end table, picking up the notepad and pen that sat beside the phone. He quickly wrote something down, tearing the paper from the pad before setting the pen and notepad aside.

He set his book aside and leant forward, dropping the note into Stiles’ lap.

“I’m going to get dinner,” Derek said, rising to his feet.

Stiles picked up the note and read the elegant cursive handwriting.

His face lit up with a bright smile as he read the note, his dark eyes turning to pools of gold as they caught the light.

He looked up at Derek, his face one of surprise and bashfulness as a smile played across his lips.

A small smile turned up the corners of Derek’s lips as he met Stiles’ gaze, his sweet smile turning to a smug smirk as he turned to leave.

Stiles looked back down at the note, reading it over again.

_I’d choose you too._

**Author's Note:**

> celestialvoid-fanfiction.tumblr.com


End file.
